tau

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English

Etymology

Ancient Greek Alphabet

sigma

upsilon
Τ τ
Ancient Greek: ταῦ
Wikipedia article on tau
When a circle’s radius is 1 unit, its circumference is twice the value of pi (2π) or tau (τ; sense 6) units.
An image of neurons. The taus or tau proteins (sense 8) are stained red.

From Middle English tau, taue, from Latin tau, from Ancient Greek ταῦ (taû) and Hebrew תָּו (tav)

Sense 6 (“mathematical constant equal to 2π”) was used by Joseph M. Lindenberg in 1991, and popularized by the American educator and entrepreneur Michael Hartl in a 2010 paper which explains that τ resembles π; and that τ is the Greek equivalent of t, the first letter of turn, and 2π corresponds to one turn of a circle with a radius of one unit.

Sense 8.1 (“short for tau lepton or tau particle”) was coined by the American physicist Martin Lewis Perl (1927–2014) after the first letter of Ancient Greek τρίτον (tríton, third), since the tau lepton or tauon was the third charged lepton discovered.

Pronunciation

Noun

tau (plural taus)

  1. The letter Ττ in the Greek alphabet; being the nineteenth letter of the Classical and Modern Greek, and the twenty-first letter of the Old and Ancient Greek alphabets.
  2. Alternative form of taw; the 22nd and last letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic.
    • 1847, Richard Edmund Tyrwhitt, Sermons Chiefly Expository, volume I, Oxford: John Henry Parker; F[rancis] and J[ohn] Rivington, London, page 366:
      Hence it appears that the spits, or skewers, on which and to which the lamb was fixed and fastened in order to be roasted, assumed the form of a cross, not such a tau-cross as is engraved in Dr. Oliver’s Historical Landmarks of Freemasonry, vol. i. p. 80. having three arms only like the Greek letter tau; but a cross like the ancient Hebrew tau, with four arms, though not necessarily all of equal length.
    • 1851, D[aniel] Rock, Hierurgia; or Transubstantiation, Invocation of Saints, Relics, and Purgatory, Besides Those Other Articles of Doctrine Set Forth in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Expounded; , 2nd edition, London: C. Dolman, , page 350:
      In the Spanish translation of Sallust, by the Infant Don Gabriel in 1772, called the Infant Sallust, there is a curious dissertation by Father Perez Bayer on the resemblance between the ancient Hebrew and Phœnician alphabets, in which it is observed that the Hebrew Tau was written in pure Phœnician, []
    • 2017, Piers Vaughan, Capitular Development Course, 2nd edition, Rose Circle Publications, →ISBN, page 135:
      The tau is both the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet, and also the 22nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In this context, the Hebrew tau or tav is more pertinent.
  3. A Τ-shaped object or sign; a Saint Anthony's cross, sometimes regarded as a sacred symbol.
    • 1658, Thomas Browne, “The Garden of Cyrus. . Chapter I.”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, Together with The Garden of Cyrus, , London: Hen Brome , →OCLC, page 96:
      Nor ſhall we take in the myſticall Tau, or the Croſſe of our bleſſed Saviour, which having in ſome deſcriptions an Empedon or croſſing foot-ſtay, made not one ſingle tranſverſion.
    1. (Christianity) A crosier with a Τ-shaped head.
  4. The ankh symbol ().
    Synonym: crux ansata
  5. (astronomy) Chiefly written τ: used to designate the nineteenth star (usually according to brightness) in a constellation.
  6. (finance) A measurement of the sensitivity of the value of an option to changes in the implied volatility of the price of the underlying asset.
    Synonyms: kappa, vega
    Hypernym: Greeks (includes a list of coordinate terms)
  7. (mathematics, neologism) Chiefly written τ: an irrational and transcendental constant representing the ratio of the circumference of a Euclidean circle to its radius, equal to twice the value of pi (2π; approximately 6.2831853071).
  8. (neurology) Short for tau protein (a protein abundant especially in the neurons of the human central nervous system that stabilizes microtubules, and when misfolded is associated with forms of dementia such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases).
  9. (physics) Chiefly written τ.
    1. Short for tau lepton or tau particle (“an unstable elementary particle which is a type of lepton, having a mass almost twice that of a proton, a negative charge, and a spin of ½; it decays into hadrons (usually pions) or other leptons, and neutrinos; a tauon”).
    2. (historical) Short for tau meson, now known as a kaon.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ Michael Hartl (28 June 2010, updated 28 June 2020), “The Tau Manifesto”, in Tauday.com, archived from the original on 2022-01-30, section 4.1 (One Turn):
    There are two main reasons to use τ for the circle constant. The first is that τ visually resembles π: after centuries of use, the association of π with the circle constant is unavoidable, The second reason is that τ corresponds to one turn of a circle, and you may have noticed that “τ” and “turn” both start with a “t” sound.
  2. ^ Martin L Perl (April 1977) Evidence for, and Properties of, the New Charged Heavy Lepton (SLAC-PUB-1923)‎, archived from the original on 2021-07-09, section 1 (Introduction), page 3; published in Trần Thanh Vân, editor, Proceedings of the Twelfth Rencontre de Moriond: Flaine, Haute-Savoie, France, March, 6–18, 1977 (Moriond Proceedings; 19), volume 1 (Leptons and Multileptons), Orsay, Paris: Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Particules Elémentaires , Université de Paris-Sud, 1977, →OCLC, pages 75–97:
    Since there is now substantial evidence that it is a lepton, we wish to designate it by a lower case Greek letter. We use because it appears to be the third charged lepton to be found and τριτον means third in Greek. We feel the old use of to designate the three pion decay mode of the K is now obsolete.

Further reading

Anagrams

'Are'are

Verb

tau

  1. to give

References

Catalan

Pronunciation

Noun

tau f (plural taus)

  1. Tau; the Greek letter Τ (lowercase τ)
  2. tav; the Hebrew letter ת
  3. (religion) a tau cross

Czech

Pronunciation

Noun

tau n (indeclinable)

  1. tau (Greek letter)

Further reading

  • tau in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu
  • tau in Akademický slovník cizích slov, 1995, at prirucka.ujc.cas.cz

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch tau, thau, from Ancient Greek ταῦ (taû). Doublet of taw, tav.

Pronunciation

Noun

tau n (plural taus, diminutive tautje n)

  1. tau (Greek letter)

Further reading

Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ταῦ (taû).

Greek letter
Ττ Previous: sigma
Next: ypsilon
Finnish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia fi

Pronunciation

Noun

tau

  1. tau (Greek letter)
  2. tauon, tau (elementary particle)

Declension

Inflection of tau (Kotus type 21/rosé, no gradation)
nominative tau taut
genitive taun tauiden
tauitten
partitive tauta tauita
illative tauhun tauihin
singular plural
nominative tau taut
accusative nom. tau taut
gen. taun
genitive taun tauiden
tauitten
partitive tauta tauita
inessive taussa tauissa
elative tausta tauista
illative tauhun tauihin
adessive taulla tauilla
ablative taulta tauilta
allative taulle tauille
essive tauna tauina
translative tauksi tauiksi
abessive tautta tauitta
instructive tauin
comitative See the possessive forms below.
Possessive forms of tau (Kotus type 21/rosé, no gradation)
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative tauni tauni
accusative nom. tauni tauni
gen. tauni
genitive tauni tauideni
tauitteni
partitive tautani tauitani
inessive taussani tauissani
elative taustani tauistani
illative tauhuni tauihini
adessive taullani tauillani
ablative taultani tauiltani
allative taulleni tauilleni
essive taunani tauinani
translative taukseni tauikseni
abessive tauttani tauittani
instructive
comitative tauineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative tausi tausi
accusative nom. tausi tausi
gen. tausi
genitive tausi tauidesi
tauittesi
partitive tautasi tauitasi
inessive taussasi tauissasi
elative taustasi tauistasi
illative tauhusi tauihisi
adessive taullasi tauillasi
ablative taultasi tauiltasi
allative taullesi tauillesi
essive taunasi tauinasi
translative tauksesi tauiksesi
abessive tauttasi tauittasi
instructive
comitative tauinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative taumme taumme
accusative nom. taumme taumme
gen. taumme
genitive taumme tauidemme
tauittemme
partitive tautamme tauitamme
inessive taussamme tauissamme
elative taustamme tauistamme
illative tauhumme tauihimme
adessive taullamme tauillamme
ablative taultamme tauiltamme
allative taullemme tauillemme
essive taunamme tauinamme
translative tauksemme tauiksemme
abessive tauttamme tauittamme
instructive
comitative tauinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative taunne taunne
accusative nom. taunne taunne
gen. taunne
genitive taunne tauidenne
tauittenne
partitive tautanne tauitanne
inessive taussanne tauissanne
elative taustanne tauistanne
illative tauhunne tauihinne
adessive taullanne tauillanne
ablative taultanne tauiltanne
allative taullenne tauillenne
essive taunanne tauinanne
translative tauksenne tauiksenne
abessive tauttanne tauittanne
instructive
comitative tauinenne
third-person possessor
singular plural
nominative taunsa taunsa
accusative nom. taunsa taunsa
gen. taunsa
genitive taunsa tauidensa
tauittensa
partitive tautaan
tautansa
tauitaan
tauitansa
inessive taussaan
taussansa
tauissaan
tauissansa
elative taustaan
taustansa
tauistaan
tauistansa
illative tauhunsa tauihinsa
adessive taullaan
taullansa
tauillaan
tauillansa
ablative taultaan
taultansa
tauiltaan
tauiltansa
allative taulleen
taullensa
tauilleen
tauillensa
essive taunaan
taunansa
tauinaan
tauinansa
translative taukseen
tauksensa
tauikseen
tauiksensa
abessive tauttaan
tauttansa
tauittaan
tauittansa
instructive
comitative tauineen
tauinensa

Further reading

Anagrams

French

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

tau m (plural tau or taus)

  1. tau (Greek letter)
  2. (physics) tau, tauon

Derived terms

Further reading

Anagrams

German Low German

Alternative forms

  • to (in some dialects)

Etymology

Middle Low German .

Preposition

tau

  1. (in some dialects) to

Derived terms

Hokkien

For pronunciation and definitions of tau – see (“helmet; hood; helmet-shaped; etc.”).
(This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of ).
For pronunciation and definitions of tau – see (“to pick up with one's fingers pressed on both sides”).
(This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of ).
For pronunciation and definitions of tau – see (“to box someone's ears; to slap someone on the face”).
(This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of ).
For pronunciation and definitions of tau – see (“helmet; hood; helmet-shaped; etc.”).
(This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of ).

Huichol

Noun

tau

  1. sun

Hungarian

Hungarian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia hu

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ταῦ (taû).

Pronunciation

Noun

tau (plural tauk)

  1. tau (Greek letter)

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony)
singular plural
nominative tau tauk
accusative taut taukat
dative taunak tauknak
instrumental tauval taukkal
causal-final tauért taukért
translative tauvá taukká
terminative tauig taukig
essive-formal tauként taukként
essive-modal
inessive tauban taukban
superessive taun taukon
adessive taunál tauknál
illative tauba taukba
sublative taura taukra
allative tauhoz taukhoz
elative tauból taukból
delative tauról taukról
ablative tautól tauktól
non-attributive
possessive - singular
taué tauké
non-attributive
possessive - plural
tauéi taukéi
Possessive forms of tau
possessor single possession multiple possessions
1st person sing. taum tauim
2nd person sing. taud tauid
3rd person sing. tauja taui
1st person plural taunk tauink
2nd person plural tautok tauitok
3rd person plural taujuk tauik

Iban

Pronunciation

Verb

tau

  1. ought, should

Icelandic

Etymology

Borrowed from Danish tøj.

Pronunciation

Noun

tau n (genitive singular taus, no plural)

  1. fabric
  2. clothing

Declension

Indonesian

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ta.ʊ/
  • Hyphenation: ta.u

Verb

tau

  1. (colloquial) to know

Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ταῦ (taû).

Pronunciation

Noun

tau

  1. the Greek letter tau (Τ or τ)

Further reading

Italian

Italian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia it

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈtaw/
  • Rhymes: -aw
  • Hyphenation: tàu

Noun

tau m or f (invariable)

  1. tau (Greek letter)

Anagrams

Japanese

Romanization

tau

  1. Rōmaji transcription of たう

Kambera

Verb

tau

  1. person
    na tau na pa-hi dà-nggu
    the person that I cried with

References

  • Marian Klamer (1998) A Grammar of Kambera, Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 328

Kapampangan

Alternative forms

Etymology 1

From Proto-Philippine *tau, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tau, from Proto-Austronesian *Cau.

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: ta‧u
  • IPA(key): /ˈtau/,

Noun

táu

  1. person
  2. human

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: ta‧u
  • IPA(key): /təˈu/,

Noun

taú

  1. feast; party; banquet

Kendayan

Numeral

tau

  1. three

Lithuanian

Pronoun

tau

  1. second-person singular dative of tu

Malay

Alternative forms

Etymology 1

From Proto-Malayic *tahu(ʔ), from Proto-Malayo-Chamic, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taqu, from Proto-Austronesian *Caqu.

Pronunciation

Verb

tau

  1. Nonstandard spelling of tahu.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English tau, from Ancient Greek ταῦ (taû).

Pronunciation

Noun

tau (Jawi spelling تاو, plural tau-tau, informal 1st possessive tauku, 2nd possessive taumu, 3rd possessive taunya)

  1. the Greek letter tau (Τ or τ)

Further reading

Maori

Etymology 1

From Proto-Polynesian *taqu (compare Hawaiian kau), from Proto-Oceanic, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taqun (compare Malay tahun, Tagalog taón).

Noun

tau

  1. year (time it takes for the Earth to complete one revolution of the Sun)
  2. year (time it takes for any planetary body to make one revolution around another body)
  3. year (a period between set dates that mark a year)
  4. year (scheduled part of a calendar year spent in a specific activity)
  5. year (Julian year)
  6. year (level or grade at school or college)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Polynesian *tau, from Proto-Oceanic, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taʀuq (compare Malay taruh).

Verb

tau

  1. to settle

Etymology 3

From Proto-Polynesian *tau, from Proto-Oceanic, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taqu, from Proto-Austronesian *Caqu (compare Malay tahu).

Noun

tau (used in the form mātau)

  1. knowledge

Verb

tau (used in the form mātau)

  1. (stative) to know

References

  • tau” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.

Minangkabau

Etymology

From Proto-Malayic *tahu(ʔ), from Proto-Malayo-Chamic, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taqu, from Proto-Austronesian *Caqu.

Verb

tau

  1. to know

Niuean

Etymology 1

From Proto-Polynesian *taqu, from Proto-Oceanic, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taqun.

Noun

tau

  1. year

Etymology 2

From Proto-Polynesian *tau, from Proto-Oceanic, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taʀuŋ.

Verb

tau

  1. fight

North Frisian

North Frisian cardinal numbers
 <  1 2 3  > 
    Cardinal : tau
    Ordinal : öler

Etymology

From Old Frisian twā. Compare Mooring North Frisian twäär, tou.

Pronunciation

IPA(key): /tau/

Numeral

tau

  1. (Föhr-Amrum, Heligoland, Sylt) two

Coordinate terms

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology 1

From Old Norse tog (rope).

Noun

tau n (definite singular tauet, indefinite plural tau, definite plural taua or tauene)

  1. a rope
  2. (physics) tau lepton
  3. tau (Greek letter)
Synonyms
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Verb

tau

  1. imperative of taue

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Etymology 1

From earlier and Old Norse tog (rope), from Proto-Germanic *taugō.

Alternative forms

Noun

tau n (definite singular tauet, indefinite plural tau, definite plural taua)

  1. a rope
Synonyms
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ταῦ (taû).

Noun

tau m (definite singular tauen, indefinite plural tauar, definite plural tauane)

  1. tau: The letter Τ/τ in the Greek, Hebrew and ancient Semitic alphabets, being the nineteenth letter of the Classical and Modern Greek, the twenty-first letter of Old and Ancient Greek.
  2. (physics) tau lepton

References

Anagrams

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin talis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

tau m (feminine singular tala, masculine plural taus, feminine plural talas)

  1. (Gascony, Provençal, Limousin, Vivaro-alpine, Auvergne) such

Alternative forms

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ταῦ (taû), from Phoenician 𐤕 (t /⁠taw⁠/).

Pronunciation

Noun

tau n (indeclinable)

  1. tau (Greek letter Τ, τ)

Further reading

  • tau in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Noun

tau m (plural taus)

  1. tau (name of the Greek letter Τ, τ)
  2. (physics) tauon

Sotho

Noun

tau class 9/10 (plural ditau)

  1. lion

Descendants

  • Phuthi: idawû

Spanish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈtau/
  • Audio (Colombia):(file)
  • Rhymes: -au
  • Syllabification: tau

Noun

tau f (plural taus)

  1. tau; the Greek letter Τ, τ
  2. tauon (elementary particle)
    Synonym: tauón

See also

Further reading

Tahitian

Adjective

tau

  1. some

Synonyms

References

Tausug

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tau.

Noun

tau

  1. person
  2. human

Derived terms

Ternate

Pronunciation

Verb

tau

  1. to pull

Conjugation

Conjugation of tau
Singular Plural
Inclusive Exclusive
1st totau fotau mitau
2nd notau nitau
3rd Masculine otau itau, yotau
Feminine motau
Neuter itau
- archaic

References

  • Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Tetum

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taʀuq, compare Maori tau and Indonesian taruh.

Verb

tau

  1. to put, to place

Tocharian B

Etymology

From Middle Chinese (MC tuwX).

Noun

tau ? sg (irregular plural towä or tom or taum)

  1. a dry measure, roughly equivalent to ten quarts or 1.25 pecks

References

  1. ^ Adams, Douglas Q. (1999), “tau”, in A dictionary of Tocharian B (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi, →ISBN

Tokelauan

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Proto-Polynesian *te-qa-u.

Determiner

tau

  1. (alienable, definite) thy, your
See also

Etymology 2

From Proto-Polynesian *taqu. Cognates include Hawaiian kau and Samoan tau.

Noun

tau

  1. season
  2. weather
  3. climate

Etymology 3

From Proto-Polynesian *tau. Cognates include Tongan tou and Samoan tau.

Verb

tau

  1. (transitive) to pick
Usage notes
  • tau is used to refer to flowers and fruits, with the exception of the coconut and pandanus.

Etymology 4

From Proto-Polynesian *tau. Cognates include Tongan tau and Samoan tau.

Verb

tau

  1. (intransitive) to fight; to quarrel
  2. (intransitive) to compete

Etymology 5

From Proto-Polynesian *tau. Cognates include Maori tau and Samoan tau.

Verb

tau (plural tatau)

  1. (intransitive) to hit
  2. (intransitive) to land
  3. (intransitive) to arrive
  4. (intransitive) to anchor
  5. (intransitive, of fish) to settle down

Etymology 6

From Proto-Polynesian *tau. Cognates include Tuvaluan tau and Samoan tau.

Verb

tau

  1. (transitive, of months) to count

Etymology 7

From Proto-Polynesian *tau. Cognates include Rapa tau and Samoan tau.

Noun

tau

  1. The point where the keel meets the stern of the canoe.

Etymology 8

Noun

tau

  1. Fresh nest fern leaves, used to cover a traditional oven.

Etymology 9

Particle

tau

  1. Used to indicate the exclusiveness of the following noun or pronoun; just, only, merely

Etymology 10

Particle

tau

  1. Used to indicate the focus lies on the following noun; concerning, regarding

Etymology 11

Particle

tau

  1. Used to indicate that the action of the following verb is beginning; starting to; beginning to

Etymology 12

Verb

tau

  1. Only used in tau ma (to be fed up with)

References

  • R. Simona, editor (1986) Tokelau Dictionary, Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 342

Tongan

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *tau, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taʀuŋ.

Pronunciation

Verb

tau

  1. fight

Tswana

Pronunciation

Noun

tau class 9/10 (plural ditau)

  1. lion

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

Pronoun

tau

  1. Central Vietnam form of tao (I/me)

Anagrams

Welsh

Pronunciation

Verb

tau

  1. (literary) third-person singular present indicative/future of tewi

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
tau dau nhau thau
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

White Hmong

Etymology

From Proto-Hmong-Mien *təuk, from Old Chinese (OC *tɯːɡ).

Pronunciation

Verb

tau

  1. to get, gain, obtain
  2. (used preverbally) perfective action marker
    Kuv tsis tau ua.I didn't do that.
  3. (used postverbally) potential mood marker
    Ua tau.May be done.

References

  • Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979) White Hmong — English Dictionary, SEAP Publications, →ISBN.
  1. ^ Ratliff, Martha (2010) Hmong-Mien language history (Studies in Language Change; 8), Camberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics, →ISBN, pages 254; 283.

Woccon

Noun

tau

  1. fire